


You're my cup of tea

by Philomena85



Category: Alex Verus Series - Benedict Jacka
Genre: Excessive Tea Consumption, Friendly Insults, M/M, Slow Burn, apprentice au, lots of comfort and fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:01:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25951834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Philomena85/pseuds/Philomena85
Summary: Part of the Apprentice AU a.k.a. CrossroadsAlex wants to tease his master by providing him with a very special set of tableware.A few little episodes from Alex's and Morden's work and love life.
Relationships: Morden/Alex Verus, Mordex
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5
Collections: Crossroads AU (Alex Verus)





	You're my cup of tea

**Author's Note:**

> This oneshot was inspired by these beautiful  
> [tea cups](https://www.boredpanda.com/insult-teacups-saucers-melissa-johnson/?utm_source=ecosia&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=organic)
> 
> I think they are absolutely stunning :D

'I'll get that!' Alex shouted when he heard the doorbell ring, jumping up from his seat in the library, the book he had been reading hitting the floor. Morden would have been quite mad at him if he knew how his apprentice dealt with his much-valued books – but fortunately, Morden wasn't there right now...

'It's very heavy,' the delivery man informed Alex as he heaved the wooden box up from his hand truck, 'Do you need help with it?'

'Yes, if you could just... erm... the kitchen's right over there, if you could carry it over...'

'Sure.'

Once the man had left, Alex opened the box and rummaged around in the wood carvings protecting the precious freight. Taking out one of the small items, he smiled.

'Beautiful,' he muttered, not able to hide the grin spreading across his face.

~*~

'Alex, what are you doing here?'

'Morning, Emily! I woke up early and I thought I might help you prepare breakfast.'

'There's no need for that, I'm almost done.'

'No, it's alright, get yourself a nice cup of coffee while I set the table, okay?'

She eyed him suspiciously.

'Alright, what is it, Alex?'

'What do you mean?'

'There's something going on, I know that expression.'

'My dearest Emily, everything's fine, I've just... prepared a little surprise for our master. Nothing bad, don't worry,' he added when he noticed the anxious look on her face.

'I trust you Alex – please, don't upset him.'

'I won't. Promise.'

He opened one of the cupboards that got rarely used and removed two gold-rimmed tea cups with matching saucers, both elaborately decorated with birds and flowers in bright colours. Even though the pattern was the same, you didn't have to look too closely to spot the difference – the one assigned to Morden had something written on the inside of the cup as well as in the middle of the saucer. He wouldn't notice until he took the first sip of his coffee – and Alex was already looking forward to his reaction. Smiling to himself, he sat down in his usual seat on the opposite side of the table, waiting for his master to come down for breakfast.

~*~

'Good morning, Alexander.'

'Good morning, master.'

'I didn't expect to see you this early, I always had the impression that you were more of a late sleeper.'

'The badgers woke me again. Should probably stop feeding them…'

'You… Yes, you definitely should stop doing that,' he replied with a frown and reached for his coffee.

‘You know, back when I purchased this mansion, I-’

He stopped dead and looked at the words written in beautiful italics just below the rim of his cup.

_ Stop talking _

‘What the hell is going on here?’

Alex couldn't entirely hide the smile forming on his lips and took a sip of his tea so Morden wouldn’t notice right away.

‘Alexander, do you consider yourself funny?’

‘What? I’m sorry master, I think I got distracted… Did you say something?’

He looked up at him with an expression of pure innocence.

‘This looks a lot like one of your  _ funny  _ ideas,’ he stated, lifting his cup and turning it around so Alex could read the inscription.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about…’

‘I see..,’ Morden muttered.

This was far from over.

~*~

The next few days went by in a rather uneventful way and neither Morden nor Alex mentioned the incident with the cup again until the two of them got into a small fight over Morden’s teaching methods. Alex’s abilities had been improving steadily since their first failed attempt that had left his master unconscious and injured while Alex had been scared to death due to the threats Morden had launched in his rage. Their whole relationship had changed for the better after they had talked about their mutual expectations concerning Alex’s apprenticeship and the death mage had promised faithfully not to torture him to keep him in line. Still they kept arguing now and then; their debates had lost a bit of their former sharpness but this time, Alex tore open the door of the duelling hall, and stormed out with clenched fists, his face sporting a furious expression.

‘I’m done for today!’

‘It’s not my fault that you’re still not able to use your powers at will, is it? I already told you that you have to practice harder! Do you think I’d be where I am now if I had been that lazy when I was your age?’

‘I  _ did  _ practice, and I am  _ not  _ lazy! Maybe I’d have a chance to develop my skills if I wouldn’t have to worry about you trying to kill me all the time!’

‘You know I’d never do anything like that, Alexander.’

_ ‘You hit me with your fucking death magic!’ _

‘None of the spells was lethal in any way, those were just some minor kinetic strikes.’

‘I didn’t know that before being hit, did I?’

‘You would have known if you’d used your divination!’

‘There’s no point in that, we’re going in circles. I’m leaving.’

‘The library is over there!’ Alex heard Morden shout after him, but he kept walking, only responding with a dismissive wave. 

When the death mage got into his study an hour later he was more than grateful to find his afternoon tea already placed on his desk, but the sight of the unfamiliar cup and saucer already made him assume the worst. Taking a closer look, he only sighed.

_ I hope you choke _

‘Sometimes you really make me forget that you’re a grown-up man…,’ he mumbled, shook his head, and took a sip of the steaming hot liquid. At least the tea tasted as good as usual.

‘Well, two can play that game…’

~*~ 

‘You’re up quite early,’ Alex wondered as he came over to the dining room for breakfast a few days later, finding Morden absorbed in his newspaper.

Looking up at his apprentice, the older man frowned.

‘It’s half past seven already, of course I’m up - someone has to do the important work, right?’

‘That doesn’t explain why  _ you _ are up,’ Alex smiled and sat down, reaching for his tea cup. ‘Any plans for today?’

The death mage took his time answering, waiting for a reaction, but the young man seemed to be too distracted to notice that something was amiss.

‘Morden?’ 

‘Since when do you call me that again? I thought we were clear about what it meant to show respect…’

‘Am I being disrespectful just because I’m addressing you by your mage name? After all, that’s the name you chose for interactions with our kind…’

‘That’s right as long as other mages are concerned - when it comes to my apprentices, I still prefer to be addressed as  _ master _ . We might change that once you’ve proceeded far enough to be considered a fully-fledged mage. Until then, we should stick to tradition.’

‘That’s not the only reason, right? You secretly  _ enjoy  _ having people address you that way because you like to display your dominance! Please tell me you’re not doing this when you spend the night with someone…’

With a smirk Alex took a sip from his tea, waiting eagerly for Morden’s reaction. Instead of scolding him, the death mage only smiled, nodding towards the cup in his apprentice’s hand.

‘Enjoying your tea, Alexander?’

Only then did the younger one realise that this wasn’t one of the cups usually used in this mansion - it rather resembled those he had bought to tease Morden. Looking at it, he saw that this one had an inscription right beneath the rim, too: 

_ I could poison you _

‘Touché,’ he grinned, taking another sip nonetheless.

‘But you wouldn’t have so much fun anymore if you really decided to poison me, huh?’

‘Do not lead me into temptation,’ Morden grinned, giving him a wink, ‘Actually, this would be a good way to trigger your divination, don’t you think?’

Smiling maliciously, Alex flipped him off and took a bite from his toast.

~*~

‘You’ve done so well!’ Morden praised, putting his arm around Alex’s shoulders.

The younger man was still trembling; under normal circumstances, it would have felt strange to have the death mage get this close to him, but at this point, he was more than grateful for the support he offered.

‘I thought I’d never see one of them again,’ he mumbled, keeping close to his master as if he was expecting an attack.

‘I already assumed that this would be a difficult situation for you, but you handled it very well. I am proud of you, Alexander. I really am.’ 

‘There’s nothing to be proud of,’ he replied, his face turning red with shame, ‘I ran away like a scared little boy.’

‘You used your powers to see what was coming and decided to avoid a fight that might have left you severely hurt. That’s not cowardly but smart. In fact, this is what diviners are supposed to do, aren’t they?’

‘Yes, but…’

‘What is it, Alexander?’

‘I didn’t mean to embarrass you.’

'You didn't.'

'I heard you apologise to the other mages you talked to when I told you I was leaving.'

'I was just making conversation and to be honest, I was fairly relieved for this opportunity to get away from them.'

‘So you don’t think I messed everything up?’

‘Of course not. But we should get you home as soon as possible now, you’re still trembling like a leaf.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Don't be.’

Conjuring a portal, they left London a few minutes later and returned to the mansion, but only when they entered his bedroom, Alex felt truly safe.

‘Try to get some sleep,’ Morden suggested softly, patting Alex’s shoulder as he turned to leave the room.

‘Mh.’

Already standing in the doorway, he turned around once again.

‘Are you okay?’

‘The house is… warded, right?’

‘Yes, of course it is… Alexander, what’s the matter with you?’

‘What if she’s… trying to find me? You would notice if she made an attempt to get into the mansion, wouldn’t you?’

‘I would. And trust me, she’d regret even thinking about such a stupid plan. Don’t you worry, you’re perfectly safe here. No-one can harm you. I think we both should call it a day and go to bed now.’

‘Okay…’

Morden had long since left, but Alex still stood in the same place as before; he just couldn’t bring himself to undress and go to sleep, the fear of an imminent attack stuck with him. He knew that he was being unreasonable, but since meeting Rachel - or  _ Deleo,  _ how she called herself now - at the tournament, the memories of his time with Richard had started to haunt him once again, making it impossible to relax his tensed up body. It took him more than an hour to finally slip into his pyjamas and curl up in his bed, buried up to his nose in the covers, tossing and turning until he eventually fell asleep.

*

He woke up with a terrified scream, thrashing about until he recognised the soft baritone of the man crouching next to him, clutching his shoulders and jolting him awake. Without thinking, he flung his arms around his master’s neck and held on for dear life, shaking violently and gasping for air.

‘Now, now…,’ Morden tried to soothe him, gently rubbing his back, ‘It’s alright, it was only a dream, nothing’s going to happen to you…’

‘It felt so real… and she… she said that she’d finish what Richard started, and.... and…’

‘Hush, it’s okay, she can’t get even near you, there’s nothing to be afraid of. Come on, lie down and try to go back to sleep.’

‘No, please don’t!’

Eyes wide with fear, Alex clung to Morden who was just about to get up again.

‘Excuse me?’

‘Don’t leave me alone,’ he whimpered, only realising what he had said when he saw Morden’s bewildered expression.

‘I’m sorry,’ he added, reluctantly letting go of the other man.

Morden seemed to be lost in thought for a while, but eventually, he had made a decision.

‘Come with me,’ he said, got up and offered a hand to his apprentice.

‘W-what?’

‘I can’t have you screaming the house down again so maybe it’s for the best if you’re not on your own tonight.’

‘But…’

‘Don’t argue with me. Get up. Is there anything you need to take with you? A stuffed animal or something like that?’ he smirked.

‘No,’ Alex replied, blushing. In fact, he still regretted leaving his favourite plushie, a platypus, at his mother’s house when he left to become Richard’s apprentice, but he would never tell anyone about it - least of all Morden.

‘Come on then.’

‘Where are we going?’

‘My bedroom, obviously.’ 

‘But... I can’t -’

‘Alexander, will you please stop arguing? It’s 3 am already.’

Silently he followed him upstairs, trying to keep some distance between them so he wouldn’t bother him with his attachment. Entering the vast bedroom, he stopped for a second - even though there was more than enough space for the two of them, Morden wouldn’t allow him to sleep in his bed, would he? Alex already headed for a small sofa next to the door, when he was called back.

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

Walking over to the bed, Morden gestured for Alex to follow suit. 

‘You really don’t have to feel obliged to share your bed with me, I don’t want to annoy you with my… childish fears.’

‘It’s alright as long as you don’t let this become a habit.’

‘I won’t. Thank you, Morden.’

‘Good night, Alexander.’

‘Good night.’ 

*

The sound of an alarm clock, the rustle of bedsheets, and a sudden loss of warmth made Alex wake up. Right by his side, Morden straightened himself up, stretched his arms, and yawned quietly. Realising how close they had been lying made him become wide awake within seconds, just to see the man next to him smile.

‘No nightmares this time?’

‘Not that I remember… I hope I didn’t disturb you, I know I’m tossing about a lot at night…’

‘Don’t worry, you hardly moved at all after you fell asleep on my chest.’

‘Oh my god..,’ Alex mumbled, trying to hide his bright red face in his hands, ‘I’m sorry…’

‘I haven’t slept that well in ages, to be honest,’ the Dark mage grinned, ‘Maybe I should revise what I said earlier and you  _ should  _ make it a habit to share my bed.’ 

‘I wouldn’t mind,’ Alex whispered, almost inaudible.

‘Can you repeat that?’

‘You heard me.’

‘Yes, but this is something I’d love to hear again…’

‘So you… aren’t mad at me?’

'On the contrary. I'd be more than glad to continue what we started when you were still working at that book shop - provided that this is something you’d want, too…’

Without thinking about the implications of this offer he started to nod eagerly.

‘Why don’t you come over and put your head back where it used to be, then…?’

~*~

'Happy birthday, Alexander," Morden whispered, tenderly kissing Alex’s cheek.

With a content smile on his lips the diviner opened his eyes and sat up.

'Thank you. Oh, you made breakfast?' 

'Just tea and... something sweet for my sweet boy.'

Examining the tray on his nightstand he blushed a little; Morden had brought a small strawberry cake, adorned with exactly 21 candles, the usual cup of tea and a single red rose in a crystal vase. Alex was moved to tears since he couldn't even remember the last time someone had celebrated his birthday with him, let alone given him his favourite cake.

‘Make a wish,’ Morden grinned, picking the tray up from the nightstand so his partner could blow out the candles.

‘My wish has already come true,’ he answered, pulling the other man closer to kiss him.

‘Who would have thought we’d end up like this?’ Morden pondered afterwards, gently running his fingers through his apprentice’s hair.

‘Oh come on, admit it - this had been your plan all along, since the day you first saw me.’

‘Don’t flatter yourself, young man. I’m not that sentimental.’

‘Yes, you are,’ Alex grinned, bending over to snatch another kiss when suddenly a thought crossed his mind.

‘Oh, I really want to know what’s written inside the tea cup today!’

When he noticed that it was just plain white, he put it down again, a tiny bit disappointed.

‘It’s the plate this time,’ the death mage pointed out reassuringly. ‘You’ll probably have to try your birthday cake first.’

‘Wanna share with me?’

‘Sure. Come and take the first bite, it's yours after all.'

Alex smiled and waited for Morden to bring the cake fork to his mouth, enjoying the taste of sweet strawberries and cream so much he let out a faint moan.

‘Delicious,’ he mumbled, almost tempted to lick the silverware clean, ‘Let me have another bite!’

‘It’s all yours,’ Morden replied, realising how incredibly satisfying it was to feed his loved one those little treats, eliciting a smile so pure and innocent it made him wonder how he could have been so stupid as to threaten this precious boy to make him come with him months ago.

Suddenly the apprentice started to laugh.

_ ‘ _ _ Insignificant Other _ ? Now, you’ve got some nerve…! Here, try some cake from  _ your  _ plate!’

Nicking the fork from him, he picked up a little piece of it, just to spread the cream all over Morden’s mouth and chin.

‘Oops, I think I slipped…,’ he giggled, enjoying the sight of his master’s perplexed expression.

‘Too bad… Now you’ll have to clean it up.’

Alex leaned forwards with a content smile, ready to lick each tiny drop from his face.

‘If you say so, master…’

~*~

They were both dead tired when they returned home in the middle of the night, their feet hurting from dancing all evening. Being back to mage society had become easier for Alex with every event they attended together, but this time it had been different; this time, they hadn’t come to the ball as master and apprentice, but as a couple, holding hands as they entered the ballroom. Rumours had been afloat for some time now that their relationship wasn’t just work-related, but no-one had been able to prove it so far - or to muster up the courage to flat-out ask them. 

With a faint groan, Morden sat down at his desk, Alex staring at him with raised eyebrows.

‘Don’t you want to come to bed?’

‘I’d love to, but there are still some things I have to get done today…’ 

Running a hand through his hair, he opened a drawer and got some files out.

‘You look tired…,’ Alex stated shily, positioned himself behind him and started massaging his shoulders, ‘Are you sure this can’t wait until tomorrow?’

‘Thank you, my dear…,’ he murmured, leaning into his touch and closing his eyes, relaxing a bit under the warm hands, ‘But I’m afraid this can’t wait any longer… I should’ve taken care of it ages ago and now I’m running out of time…’

‘Do you need my help?’

‘No, it’s no use if neither of us gets enough sleep. If you really want to do me a favour you could ask Emily to prepare some tea for me.’

'I'll take care of that, I don't want to wake Emily, she'll have to get up at 5 am again to prepare breakfast, we should let her rest.'

‘It’s really adorable how much you care for her.’

‘Don’t act as if you didn’t. Aurora told me why you… bought her from her previous master.’

The knowledge of how Emily had become part of Morden’s household still made him cringe; he’d probably never get used to Dark mages abducting and enslaving people because of their powers or just because they felt like it and simply using them as payment or… well, he didn’t want to think about what else some of them did to their slaves. Instead of commenting on Alex’s remark, Morden uttered a small sigh again.

‘Don’t mistake practicality for kindness, dear Alexander. I wanted her because of her abilities, not because I felt the need to save her.’

‘Her abilities?’

‘Are you trying to tell me you haven’t noticed yet?’

‘Noticed what?’

‘Emily is an adept, she can use a minor form of life magic that allows her to sense injuries or diseases even if they’re invisible to the naked eye. She can’t heal them with her powers, but she’s very experienced with medicinal plants and the like, so she’s very useful when it comes to minor injuries. You wouldn’t call a life mage to treat a cut or burn, right?’

‘And she could also detect a terminal illness if you don’t have symptoms?’ 

‘Long before it actually breaks out, yes.’

‘That’s indeed a useful skill… I mean, those things tend to occur more frequently as one gets older…’

‘Alexander, guard your tongue!’

‘I’m sorry,’ he smirked. ‘Aurora’s probably taking care of these things, too.’

He hesitated for a second, looking down at his hands, lost in thought.

‘What is it, darling?’ Morden asked, slightly concerned.

‘I wonder if your intentions were the same when you asked me to become your apprentice…’

‘Maybe it’s because I’m tired, but I think you’ve lost me there.’

‘All that flirting when you came to the book shop… I really thought you were… Interested in me,’ he added, looking away shyly. 

Morden turned around abruptly.

‘Do you really think I’ve been deceiving you?’

‘No, but… Well, not anymore, just when you…’

‘When I visited you in that shop? You think I’ve only been complimenting you because I wanted to convince you to come with me?’

‘...yes.’

‘I’m afraid you are mistaken. - No, please, hear me out’, he suspended Alex’s attempt at interrupting him. ‘Of course it wasn’t my initial plan to…  _ get off  _ with you… but…’

‘Then why did you do all those things? Ask for recommendations, give me presents, ask me to lunch, pay for my flat… just to force me to come with you immediately afterwards?’

Alex took a step backwards to see the death mage’s look turn sad.

‘Because I realised that someone like you could never love someone like me,’ he muttered.

‘W-what?’

‘You kept comparing me to Richard, even though - at least at this point - I hadn’t been anything but kind towards you. You assumed that all I wanted to do was holding you captive and using your powers for some kind of evil plan and that’s when I admitted to myself that the only way to make you come with me was doing exactly what you expected me to do - even if it broke my heart to see you growing quieter by the minute because you were so full of fear.’

‘You were… very frightening back then.’

‘How about now? Do I still frighten you?’

‘No,’ Alex whispered, took a step towards Morden, placed a hand on his cheek and caressed the warm skin. ‘Of course not, my love…’ 

Interrupting the kiss that followed, the Dark mage eyed his partner with an uneasy look on his face, leaving him in a state of confusion.

‘What is it? Did I do something wrong?’

‘No, I’m… just not used to being called…  _ that way _ .’

‘Do you want me to stop doing this? I mean… if you’re feeling uncomfortable with me calling you pet names and such…’

‘No!’ he replied, way to quick, ‘I… I like it. It’s just that I haven’t been given such names before.’

‘You… are you serious? Didn't you have other relationships before?’

‘Sure I did.’

‘...but?’

'It doesn't matter now, does it?'

It was obvious how uncomfortable the whole conversation made Morden feel.

‘I’ll get your tea,’ Alex whispered, pressing a kiss onto the other man’s hair and savouring the warm smile he got in return.

'I'm already curious as for what kind of cup I'll be given this time.’’

'You'll find out soon enough.'

*

Ten minutes later, Morden had to pause his work once again due to his boyfriend sitting in his lap, the younger one’s head resting on his shoulder while he almost fell asleep.

‘Go to bed,’ he mumbled into the soft black hair, only making Alex cling on to him even tighter.

‘Not without you.’

‘I’m sorry, but I really have to finish this… I’ll come over as soon as possible.’

‘The last time you said that you stayed up all night.’

‘This time I won’t. I promise.’

‘I’ll rather wait here for you.’

‘In my lap?!’

‘Yes.’

‘How you think am I supposed to- never mind.’

A few minutes later he realised that Alex was fast asleep. He reached for his tea cup; the strong black tea his lover usually prepared would help him stay awake long enough to finish his tasks. Glancing at the inscription beneath the rim made him smile; those words probably were the closest to the  _ I love you  _ neither of them had dared to voice yet.

_ You'll do _

Slowly he ran his fingers through the younger one’s hair.

‘The same goes for you, my love,’ he whispered, ‘The same goes for you.’


End file.
